Animal cages have been used for conducting experiments on a wide variety of laboratory organisms including rats, mice, pigeons, squirrel monkeys, and guinea pigs. For this purpose, researchers can select either a test cage specially designed for a particular test animal or a modular cage. In the past, such test cages have included a fixed or removable grid or a wire mesh floor upon which the animal stands as well as a waste collection device located beneath the floor. Also, in the past, some manufacturers of test cages have mounted in a semipermanent way the grid floors to the walls of the cage and positioned the waste collection device below the grid floor. Thus, in some past test cages, the floor and waste collection assembly has been an integral part of the cage. In other previous test cages, the floor and waste collection assembly has been removable as a separate element. Moreover, even in past cages with removable assemblies and with floor bars that allowed electrical shocking of the test animal, a researcher could not simply detach the assembly from the cage. This was so because the floor bars of past assemblies were connected to an electric shocking apparatus in such a manner so that each electrical connection had to be first disconnected from each floor bar before removal and replacement of the grid floor for cleaning and sanitation.
In conducting animal experiments, it is often required that the scent and all other traces of a test animal be removed prior to the entry of a subsequent test animal into the cage. Regardless of what kind of test cage is used, to de-scent and/or sanitize a cage, a researcher must remove the floor and/or the waste collection device, clean them and replace them with a cleaned set. In the past, sanitizing a cage demanded replacement of two separate movable parts. Specifically, the sanitation of past cages has been cumbersome and time-consuming because the floor and the waste collection device have had to be disconnected from each other, removed, cleaned and then reattached before insertion into the cage.
Moreover, in conducting animal experiments, it is often needed to deliver an electrical shock to the feet of the test animal. For this purpose the grid or mesh floors of past test cages have been adapted to conduct electricity by directly connecting an electrical contact to each floor bar. Therefore, replacing a soiled floor and waste collection assembly in the past has required disconnection of each individual hard wired contact to each floor bar followed by re-attachment of each contact to the cleaned floor bars.
The following United States patents may be of interest to provide background to past test cages:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,796,044 issued to Breland; U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,907 issued to Palencia; U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,907 issued to Evans; U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,676 issued to Barney; U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,297 issued to Schroer; U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,064 issued to Glass, et. al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,389 issued to Meyer; U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,413 issued to Castaigne; U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,195 issued to Blough; U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,064 issued to Bailey, et. al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,902 issued to Orfei; U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,590 issued to Bowers; U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,360 issued to Rubricius; U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,201 issued to Coulbourn; U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,675 issued to Collier; U.S. Pat. No. 4869,206 issued to Spina.
Before now, test cages and floor waste collection assemblies that allow quick removal and replacement for cleaning have not been available. Moreover, test cages and floor-waste collection assemblies that allow a researcher to carry out shock and non-shock experiments as needed have also not been available before now.
The present invention provides a test cage that allows a researcher to quickly change the floor and waste collection assembly and to conduct both shock and non-shock experiments as needed without having to disconnect the electrical connections or alter the structural integrity of the cage. In addition, the present invention also provides a quick change floor and waste collection assembly used in a test cage, which assembly allows a researcher to quickly change the floor and waste collection assembly and to conduct both shock and non-shock experiments as needed without having to alter the electrical connections between the floor and the cage or the structural integrity of the cage. The present invention also provides a method of conducting animal experimentation and for cleaning test cages without altering electrical connections between the floor and the cage or the structural integrity of the cage.
By re-designing the floor and waste collection assembly as well as the structural relationship between the assembly and the cage, the present invention offers an efficient research chamber. The cage and assembly of the present invention may be used with a variety of test animals, and for both shock and non-shock experiments without having to alter electrical connections between the floor and the cage or the structural integrity of the cage. With the present invention, a user may quickly remove from a test cage the scent and waste traces of the previous animal prior to introducing the next animal.